Carolina Alumni Review - March/April 2007

Dining Service Weighs Options as Losses Mount

More than four tons of food was fries and soda at the End Zone, an unlim- Aramark receives a 2 percent manage-kicked to the curb last year ited buffet of more or less equal food waits ment fee of gross sales. This cost of opera-through UNC’s dining services next door in the Rams Head Dining Hall. tion is included in dining services’ monthly operation, deepening a six-year profit Coupled with this is dining services’ expenses, along with an approximately deficit of about $1 million. unique, and sometimes sticky, contract with $500,000 annual use fee — for the cost of

“The last two years we have lost money, Aramark, the food supplier that oversees operations — that Aramark pays the Uni-but it can be associated with the Rams UNC dining. versity.

Head,” said Mike Freeman, direc- If the University does not receive the
tor of auxiliary services. “It’s a full $500,000 at the end of the year, then
beautiful dining facility, but it’s a Aramark has to start paying dining services
very difficult venue to operate.” back from the management fee. In other
In conjunction, the End words, Aramark never can lose money at
Zone Sports Cafe in the three- UNC because dining services pays the
year-old dining hall will close at company all allowable expenses.
the end of the spring semester The Rams Head facility, which Free-
due to profit loss and poor stu- man considers to be “a learning experi-
dent response. The End Zone is ence,” is undergoing a menu of changes.
a burger-and-sandwich sports Now, meal plans can be purchased only
bar (but without alcoholic bev- for a year, not a semester, and the cost of
erages). backing out is $250. In past years, many
The losses at the End Zone students opted out in the spring.
have been in the thousands of If dining services is to break even, 5,000
JERRY BLOW
dollars every year, Freeman said, _The _End _Zone _in _the _Rams _Head _dining _complex _has _all _themeal plans must be sold and kept for the
and its nemesis is a next-door _ambience _of _a _sports _bar _but, _of _course, _without _the _beer. _Ityear. Last fall, 5,442 meal plans were pur-
neighbor: For the nearly $7 it hasn’t done well, and dining officials will look for a better chased. The per-meal price also has been
costs a student to get a burger, use of the space. raised.

Gamecocks Coming
to Kenan in October

Carolina has home football games against James Madison and South Carolina next fall and will go on the road to play East

Carolina and South Florida. The Heels are excused this year from playing ACC opponents Boston College, Clemson and Florida State. They will play six home games in Coach Butch Davis’ inaugural season. All games are on Saturdays, and there’s one open date. The full schedule:

Sept. 1 James Madison Sept. 8 East Carolina Sept. 15 Virginia

Sept. 22 South Florida Sept. 29 Virginia Tech Oct. 6 Miami

Oct. 13 South Carolina Oct. 20 Open

Oct. 27 Wake Forest Nov. 3 Maryland Nov. 10 N.C. State Nov. 17 Georgia Tech Nov. 24 Duke

Chapel Hill Greenville Chapel Hill Tampa Blacksburg Chapel Hill Chapel Hill

Winston-Salem Homecoming Raleigh Atlanta Chapel Hill

Online Digest

Read these stories in detail in From The Hill Online at alumni.unc.edu

■ Endowed professorships have been ranking of the best values among four-year awarded to 35 faculty members — desig- public colleges and universities. nations that are created through gifts to

■ On Valentine’s Day, one of the largest
UNC and that recognize excellence in
crowds ever to gather in the Pit was sum-
teaching and research.
moned by a Facebook posting to the pub-
■ The alumnus accused of driving an lic finale to a romantic relationship. Thou-

SUV through the Pit area last year has sands more have watched it on You Tube. pleaded not guilty on all counts related to the Was it a stunt? incident in which nine people were struck.

■ Hundreds of applicants for fall 2007
^■^The ^Death ^of ^Innocents:^An ^Eyewitnessadmission to Carolina were notified in
^Account ^{of Wrongful} ^Executions ^by ^Sistererror by e-mail in January they that had
Helen Prejean has been selected as this _been _accepted.year’s summer reading program book.
■ Carolina is launching a joint under-
^■^Sigma ^Chi ^{fraternity, which} ^pleadedgraduate degree program with the National
guilty to six hazing charges last fall and was _University _of _{Singapore, believed} _to _be _a^put ^on ^{probation, has} ^had ^its ^sentencefirst at the undergraduate level outside of a
^lightened ^to ^probation.professional school setting among UNC’s
■ UNC alumni rank eighth nationally in U.S. peer campuses.
Peace Corps service in an annual survey of _■_Twenty-two _teachers_have _beenuniversities, an improvement of three spots _named _this _year’s _recipients _of _UNC’s _Dis-from a year earlier.
tinguished Teaching Awards, the highest